Authgear vs node-oidc-provider
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Authgear
Open-source authentication and user management server
VS
node-oidc-provider
Certified OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 provider for Node.js
| Feature | Authgear | node-oidc-provider |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes | source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,065 | ★ 3,816 |
| First released | 2021 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Firebase Auth | Auth0, Okta |
What are Authgear and node-oidc-provider?
Authgear
Authgear is an open-source authentication-as-a-service platform supporting passwordless login, social login, and multi-factor authentication. It is self-hosted to provide identity for web and mobile apps.
- Passwordless and social login
- Built-in MFA
- User management dashboard
- OIDC compliant
node-oidc-provider
node-oidc-provider is an open-source, certified OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 provider implementation for Node.js. It can be self-hosted to issue tokens and act as an identity provider for applications.
- Certified OIDC provider
- OAuth 2.0 support
- Embeddable in Node apps
- Standards compliant
Authgear vs node-oidc-provider: key differences
Authgear is written in Go, while node-oidc-provider is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Authgear versus MIT for node-oidc-provider. Node-oidc-provider is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Authgear. Node-oidc-provider is the more established project (first released 2016), while Authgear arrived in 2021.
Why pick each one
Choose Authgear if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
Choose node-oidc-provider if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Authgear or node-oidc-provider better?
Neither is universally better. node-oidc-provider has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Authgear and node-oidc-provider free and open-source?
Yes. Authgear is licensed under Apache-2.0 and node-oidc-provider under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Authgear and node-oidc-provider with Docker?
Authgear: yes. node-oidc-provider: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Authgear or node-oidc-provider?
node-oidc-provider has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Authgear. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.